7 Mind Blowing Space Scenes From Movies

Space movies have always been a favorite of filmmakers and storytellers because, when it really comes down to it, films explore places we can't go ourselves. Considering they just shut down the space program, we probably won't be going deep into space any time soon. Along with this uncharted territory comes the possibility of all kinds of far out and mind-blowing scenes, and the seven films on this list definitely blew all of our collective minds!

James Cameron's epic action film "Aliens" ends with a final fight between Ripley and the massive mother alien, hand-to-hand. This can only happen because Ripley has loaded herself into a action mirroring forklift, for lack of a better term, allowing them to awesomely exchange blows. It's a scene that is considered a action classic. Ripley wins this battle by sucking the alien out into space, mind blowing in its own right. Cameron smartly set this scene up earlier in the movie by showing Ripley's ability to operate the forklift for labor purposes.

Just about everything in "2001: Space Odyssey."

While some of the effects could be considered a little dated today, just about all of the space scenes in "2001" are worth watching because of their unique and amazing vision of the future. Most of the sets and effects are practical, making them look more unique. This is true with just about everything Kubrick ever directed though. You've got to remember that man hadn't even landed on the moon when this movie was made, making everything that happened that much more mind-blowing.

The Slingshot in "Apollo 13."

When the astronauts have to turn off all their equipment and slingshot around the moon to have enough inertia to get back to Earth, the tension among everyone watching, in real life and in the theater, can be felt. This is only magnified by the shots of the small space capsule circling the moon. According to the actual astronauts, this was very close to how it actually looked when they circled the moon. It's probably a good bet that those space suits were no longer suitable for wearing afterwards, if you know what we mean.

The space ship explosion in "The 5th Element."

At the end of the "5th Element" where the massive space ship explodes and destroys all the bad guys, viewers are taken back to the mind-blowing explosions in action films. As outrageous as the explosion seemed, it was totally practical and necessary. At least, we think it was. The movie got sort of out of control by the end. But what is known for sure is that this was a big boom the likes of which space had not seen since the Death Star blew up at the end of Star Wars.

The exploration of our space future in "Wall E."

This animated gem allows us to follow a robot as he voyages through our wasteful space exploring future in Wall E. We are taken to many different planets, ships and just outer space in general. Animation may be the only type of movie that can go farther into space then any live action film can realistically go. It turns out that Pixar has our future pegged as a long, desolate, garbage haul. That's a bad hit, no matter how you look at it.

The Decompression scene in "Total Recall."

Much of "Total Recall" occurs on a colony of Mars, where no one can go outside due to the lack of atmosphere. At the end of the film, a wall is broken down and the vacuum of pressue sucks everyone out. The main bad guy, VilosCohaagen, is sucked onto the red earth and his eyes literally burst from his head. Totally awesome and quite literally mind-blowing. But that serves Cohaagen right. After all, he wouldn't give those people air.

The Fight Scene in JJ Abrams' "Star Trek."

The television show and the past "Star Trek" movies were decidedly weak when it came to action scenes. By the time the movies came out, most of the cast had been afflicted with arthritis. However, the new JJ Abrams version has some of the the most breathtaking fight scenes of any space movie ever made, showing the bright new future space movies have with the current technology in Hollywood. The best is the one has Kirk doing battle while plummeting toward the ground at super high speeds, which is a sky-diving scene that puts "Point Break" to shame.